DRUG POLICIES ARE THE REAL CRIME

While what happened in Tulia - the arrest and sentencing to very long prison
terms of a large share of the town's young black men under the guise of the
war on drugs - should shock every American, it is only the tip of the
iceberg.

According to the federal Household Survey, "most current illicit drug users
are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all
users), 2 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10
percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998."

And yet, blacks constitute 36.8 percent of those arrested for drug
violations and more than 42 percent of those in federal prisons for drug
violations.

African-Americans comprise almost 60 percent of those in state prisons for
drug felonies; Hispanics account for 22.5 percent.

Thus it is clear that our drug laws, and their mandatory minimum
punishments, are now a tool for racists - America's tool for ethnic
cleansing.

It is time to consider commonsense drug policies - policies based on public
health and honest education instead of law enforcement.

RICHARD LAKE- Sylvania, Ohio